The Economy | 43
The surge in public sector building and construction activities also supported domestic demand.
Chart 1
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
∞ 6 4
2
0
-2
-4
-6
Quarterly Gross Domestic Product
Year-on-year rate of change (Per cent)
Nominal GDP
Real GDP
-8
-10
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
The labour market saw widespread and notable improvements during 2010. Total employment rose to an all-time high by the end of the year, surpassing the previous peak in early 2008. Vacancies likewise surged across many sectors. With improving labour demand, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell successively from a high of 5.5 per cent in June-August 2009, to 4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010, the lowest since end-2008. The underemployment rate also declined steadily from a high of 2.4 per cent in mid-2009 to 1.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010. Much of the slack in the labour market was worked off in 2010, resulting in a recovery in wages during the year.
Underpinned by further recovery of the economy, abundant liquidity and extremely low interest rates, the residential property market was buoyant in most parts of 2010. For the year as a whole, the number of transactions surged by 18 per cent to 135 778, the highest level since 1997. Overall flat prices in the fourth quarter of 2010 also soared by another 22 per cent over a year earlier, and flat rentals by 17 per cent.
The Government introduced successive packages of measures in February, April, August and November 2010 to ensure a stable and healthy property market. in October, the Chief Executive also announced a series of short, medium and long- term measures in his Policy Address. These packages of measures have achieved noticeable results in raising flat supply, increasing transparency of the property market, preventing excessive growth of mortgage lending and curbing speculative activities.